Diverging Paths
by Gentle Blossom
Summary: When I began my travels through Kanto, I assumed it would involve just exciting battles and meeting new people. Y'know, just the ordinary life of a noob trainer, trying to outdo her vain rival. But there's nothing normal about a wicked syndicate's goal to bring havoc to the world with Shadow Pokémon. Hiatus!
1. Chapter 1: Disobedient pt 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Only the plot and OCs I've created. Flames are prohibited! Constructive criticism is allowed, though.**

**I just recently have decided to rewrite chapters one through five in Dreamer (now known as Diverging Paths) after reading them. I feel that they lack something... I hope you guys bear with me and don't get frustrated because I will be doing a few changes that will change quite a few things or more things plot wise entirely.**

**Other than that, please enjoy the rewrite and review or PM me to let me know how I did. :D **

**I'm 100% sure that a few of the concepts used in this fic have been featured in other Pokémon fics countless of times. So please don't get mad because I will try my upmost best to make this story as original as possible. But seriously, clichés are the backbone of Fanfic.**

**Key:**

_Italics-Thoughts/Letters/Flashbacks_

**Bold- PA system/Message Bulletins**

_**Bold Italic- Radio/TV/Pokedex descriptions**_

* * *

><p>TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,<p>

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

—"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

Diverging Paths

Chapter 1: Disobedient Part 1

Some people believe that the world is a three-dimensional puzzle of life and that each person has their own piece of dreams and accomplishments to place in the fabric of time (the same goes for Pokémon as well). Though, being able to fit that piece in that puzzle and to make a difference is not as easy as we think, for many difficult obstacles and decisions in life block our path towards success. In other words, life isn't a merry like walk in the park as cheesy and cliché-y as it may sound. But regardless, it's nothing but the honest truth, in my opinion that is...

Isn't life the great miracle and the great mystery that has motivated humans and Pokémon alike to search for its true meaning since as long as humans and Pokémon have coexisted, though? Isn't life the reason for why many strange and wondrous legends have evolved from its pursuit of mysteries? Isn't life about increasing our understanding by expanding our ability to experience new things? New realities, points of view other than the ones familiar to us? I have asked myself these questions since the moment that I was able to comprehend certain things. And I still ask myself these specific questions to this day. This is the story of how I started my journey as an innocent and naïve fifteen-year-old girl, who had no clue of what she was getting herself into. In other words, I had no clue that Dreamer, my disobedient starter, had a dark and mysterious past that was going to change my whole perspective of how I viewed the world I lived in...

I didn't know where I was, but I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure that I was indeed dreaming. The reasons I was certain were that, first, I was standing on a snowy cliff high in the mountains, which right away was a dead giveaway that I was not in my warm bed in Pallet Town; and second, I was shivering so violently from all the cold snow that had clustered itself in my bronze, shoulder-length hair and on my bare, pale arms and legs. It never snowed in Pallet Town before, so that was more solid evidence toward the dream theory.

I could feel the coldness right to my bones. And it did not help that I was basically in a spaghetti strap black tank top and in cherry red pajama shorts—the clothes that I had fallen asleep in. And in a matter of seconds, I would be completely submerged in a pile of freezing snow.

As the Arctic wind picked up, I was trying to figure out where the hell I was at. Perhaps I was in Mount Moon? Or maybe Mount Sliver? Yeah, the second choice seemed like the most rational answer. After all, Mount Silver was the only snowy summit I could think of that was in the Kanto region... Or was that the Johto region...?

But the real question was— how did I _get_ here in the first place? I didn't get a chance to ponder this question because all of a sudden I felt a presence. But where was it from? It was definitely not in front of me, for I could not even distinguish anything in this snowstorm. Was it to the right or to the left, then?

Shoving and digging my way out of the irritating snow, I turned left, right, looked up, and looked down the cliff. That was when I saw it. Squinting down the cliff and trying not to fall in the process, I barely made out the silhouette of what looked like young boy.

I blinked rapidly, surprised that I was seeing someone else here. But it wasn't his presence that I felt, which was strange because as far as I could tell him and I where the only two here in Mount Silver.

Feeling that I should probably get his attention, I shouted out. "Hey, you!"

The mystery boy turned his head slowly in my direction. I gave a shriek when I saw a pair of demonic blood red eyes stare piercingly at me. Acting from an impulse, I backed away from the ledge and squeezed my eyes shut.

_This is just a dream. This is just a dream. Or more like a ni-nightmare! I wanna wake up_, I wailed silently.

Trying to think positive things like small, cute riolu and chocolate, I open my eyes only to realized that the boy—

With my heart beating rapidly like the wings of a Ninjask, my eyelids shot opened, revealing aghast cobalt blue eyes. Gasping loudly and drenched in a coat of sweat, I felt utterly relieved that it was all actually a silly dream. But didn't I already establish that in my dream?

"That weird dream again," I spoke to myself in a hoarse whisper, still feeling abnormally cold. I'd had it for weeks now, but it was slightly different every week. The first time, I had dreamed of snow and then I would awake. The dream would confuse me but I would pay no mind to it since it made no sense at the moment. After a while, it last longer and longer until it was like a movie being showed multiply times that the viewer knew by heart what was going to happen. And just recently it had been different from all the others; it felt _so real_ this time. The cold, the loneliness, the discomfort, the fear, etcetera. All those feelings felt so real that it made me shiver so violently. Too realistic.

I mean weren't dreams and nightmares supposed to mean something? Weren't they supposed to symbolize something? Who knows though...?

Since I started having these strange dreams, I have not told anyone. Not even my best friend or my twin brother. And you want to know why? Well... it's because if I do I'd be categorized as an insane person. I'm pretty sure that my parents would make me see a _freaking_ shrink.

A shrink! There is no why in _hell_ I'm about to tell a complete stranger about my personal issues. Hell, they'll probably make it even worse.

"_Evelyn Lotta Hughes_, if you are not up by the time I am done brushing my teeth, I swear to Arceus that I will personally drag you out of bed!" bellowed a bossy, familiar voice that belonged to my best friend Judith Montenegro. She loved to say my full name whenever she was annoyed, angry, or astonished with me.

I furrowed my eyebrows in concentration; an instantaneous flicker of realization crossed my face, making me disregard my nightmare, for now. I was in Judith's house, sleeping in her bed. The reason behind that was that two weeks prior to today my parents had left on a seven-month-long research trip, which was part of their job description as being scientists of Silph Corporation. Yes, the leading manufacturers in Pokémon technology around the world. I think mom said something about finally breaking the language barrier between humans and Pokémon (Y'know without using fancy gadgets and gismos to talk to them), which I actually find impossible...

Regardless leaving for long periods of time being part of their job description, mom was adamantly reluctant on leaving my brother and me alone for a long time. She was even going to hire a temporary nanny to look after us until their return, feeling a little embarrass to ask Judith's parents to take care of us since the Montenegros had done that a lot when we were small.

I, of course, had firmly refused to be treated like a child, telling my mother quite harshly that I was practically an adult (I may have exaggerated here...) and that I would be fine. Ethan, my idiotic twin, was less dramatic but he did plead mom not to hire a nanny. Despite my strident and bold statement, my mother refused and this led to an argument that would have lasted for a long time if father, being the wise and caring man he is, hadn't stepped in with a brilliant suggestion. It was that perhaps Ethan and I should start our journey across Kanto after delaying it for five years. After hearing this I was very happy and so was Ethan.

What better excuse to start my journey, right? After all, since I was four I'd had the aspire to become a famous and super strong trainer. I basically wanted to become the best of the best like most little kids. But that dream changed as I matured and went to trainer school to wanting to become something more complex like an elite four member who specialized in fighting type Pokémon. Then, with much persuading from father and Professor Oak, the renowned and legendary Pokémon researcher in the whole world, mom caved in and let us go.

She, father, Ethan, and I began to make many arrangements for Ethan's and my steadily approaching journey. For example, they wrote a contract that stated that we had to adhere by their guidelines and bought many things for us that we would need. All in all, they were very thorough in that we would be ready to set off across the region on our own. Also, mother said that for the time being we were to stay with Judith until the day. Of course the Montenegros had no issues with that arrangement since their only child would be setting off on her own journey as well.

Now sitting up in bed, I came out of my reverie in time to hear Judith scream my name again from somewhere downstairs. In a flash I was out of bed and picking up my clothes hastily in an attempt to escape her wrath and to take a much needed shower. Today was the day after all...

X-X-X

Clad in a pair of blue short shorts, a plain white tee with a black vest, a pair of black-and-pink fingerless gloves, and a pink hoodie with a black Poké ion in the chest area, I pulled on a pair of sturdy, black-and-pink hiking boots. After brushing my hair in a bushy high ponytail, I put on my favorite white baseball cap with a pink poké icon and a pink straight rim. Walking out of the bathroom and into Judith's room, I saw a pretty platinum blonde with naturally, loose curly hair and big brown eyes, pacing around the room. She adjusted her white and red sun hat and tapped her white and red slip on running shoes in annoyance. Once she saw me enter, she grabbed her yellow messenger bag and stalked over to me, thrusting my pink messenger bag into my surprised hands.

"What took you so long," she demanded, leading me downstairs at inhuman speed that made me almost trip. "It's almost going to be eight o'clock. Let's go!"

I twisted my hand from the platinum blonde's hold once we were at the front door, making sure to double check if I had all my stuff. Apparently, I did because Judith grabbed my wrist and yanked me out the front door, ignoring my protests.

April fifth, Monday, 8:00 A.M.

Once outside, a breeze of crisp, April morning wind danced around our hair. This action caused me to shiver, stuffing my now chilly hands into the pocket of my hoodie. But, of course, Judith didn't seem to care since she at once reclaimed my left wrist with the strength of a machoke and continued to drag me through town en route to Prof. Oak's Lab.

Trying to keep up with her rather brisk pace, I took in my surroundings. Off in the far distant, to my left, I could see the sun casting a warm halo like glow over the valley and the slowly awaking town. I could hear the pleasant chirps and tweets of the local pidgey and pidgeotto, who were perched all over town. And turning my head to my right, I wistfully caught sight of the vivid blue miles-and-miles-long crescent of Pallet Beach. I could faintly catch the salty scent from the beach.

Snapping myself out of my brief longing to be there, I waved to a couple familiar faces that we happen to encounter on our way to the lab. You see in Pallet Town everyone knows everyone. This is what happens when a small town (like us) refuses to modernize and industrialize. And I wouldn't have it any other way since I loved breathing in the polluted-free air.

After waking for ten more minutes, we arrived at last to our destination. A tan building that was nestled on a big, grassy hill, overlooking the whole town. A windmill spun around and around beside the building. I abruptly stopped, making Judith stumble back to a stop. She gave me an annoyed look, but I disregarded the look and pointed wordlessly in front of her. She gaped.

Just ahead, we could see a crowd of cheering people surrounding the front gates of the lab. As I prepared to make a run for it, Judith quickly grabbed a fistful of the back of my hoodie before dragging me up the hill toward the annoying noise of the crowd. I groaned quietly. As the annoying cheering got louder, I pulled myself away from her hold and spun around in time to see why the rowdy crowd was cheering.

Standing right by the open gate was a tall, slightly built boy with perfectly spiked brown hair dressed in blue jeans, a pair of black high-tops, a pair of purple wrist bands, and a black shirt with a collar. His "royal highness" was none other than arrogant Gary Oak who was the grandson of Prof. Oak. The brunette was grinning at the crowd that was composed of mostly fan girls, much to Judith and my dismay.

As we walked through the crowd, Gary's emerald green eyes spotted us or rather me. His grin turned into a sardonic smirk and he strode casually over, trying to act cool in front of his fans (no doubt about it...).

"It's about time you decide to show up, Hughes. I was beginning to think that you chickened out, which wouldn't surprise me, considering you aren't cut out to be a trainer in the first place... Just stick to coordinating, okay," he sneered.

My eyes hardened at his snippy comment and I opened my mouth to retorted, but again; for the umpteenth time today, Judith grabbed Gary's and my wrist super tight before pulling us into the lab. Man, that girl probably left a bruise!

"Gary, we don't have time to put up with your_ usual_ tauros crap! You can flirt with Evelyn later," she snapped, walking faster and ignoring my look of outrage and Gary's attempt to correct her.

Behind us, I could hear the disappointed shouts and wails of Oak's fan girls. Giving into my childish ways, I slammed the front gate on their faces, an amused grin spreading across my face when Oak and them gave me looks of disbelief. After being dragged through the front door, down a hallway, and through the professor's living room, we were released in a white room that was the Professor's office. I glanced around in shock, refusing to believe that this pig style was actually Prof. Oak's Office.

I mean a month ago it was spotless clean. How the hell did it turn messy in a short time? A dozens of papers were scattered on his desk and the floor. A pile of dirty dishes sat by his computer. An occasional empty soda can could be seen around the room. The machinery was without a doubt quite dusty from not being cleaned every day. And his big book shelf was completely disorganized and very dusty with random books being cramped into tight spots and several tottering precariously on the edges; a replica of my messy twin's room, minus the machines.

"Finally! What took you so long, Evelyn? Professor, they're here at last," called out a familiar voice.

I turned in time to see Judith bound forward and into the arms of my dopy twin brother. The spiky bronze-haired boy with brown eyes hugged her back. He was clad in a light blue jacket with a black plain tee underneath, black cargo jeans, and black and red high-tops. To top it off, he also had on a white and red baseball cap with a black poké icon and a black straight rim and a red backpack was hoisted over his right shoulder.

After releasing Judith, he smirked at me. "So you finally decided to wake up, hmm?" I chose not to comment, sending him a glare instead.

We hear a loud crash follow by the hurried thud of footsteps. I winced, hoping that the professor didn't hurt himself.

"Gramps? Gramps, are you okay? Didn't you hear Ethan? We're here," announced a rather impatient Gary, tapping his foot rapidly.

"Uh, coming!" shouted back a busy voice from somewhere in the back. Gary groaned loudly and rolled his eyes as we shot him disapproval looks. He ignored us.

So while Prof. Oak is doing Arceus knows what, I will elaborate why Gary and I greatly dislike each other. This little feud (as I like to call it) began back when I started reading and studying about Pokémon at the age of four. Yes, I was quite capable of reading really well at that age if you guys must know... Y'know it actually helps when your parents are Pokémon Scientists. Their educational activities were very helpful; now that I think about it.

But back to the whole Oak fiasco... well, he actually found out until we were eight years old, and that made him livid that I knew more about Pokémon than him. We were in fact very good friends until he found out and stopped talking to me. Eager to outsmart me, he started learn about Pokémon too and he had the best source of all: his grandfather! Professor Samuel Oak, who surpassed my parents knowledge wise on Pokémon.

It just made me want to punch him in the face every time he made a smart aleck comment towards me. He thinks he so much better than me when in reality… He actually is! Seriously, I can never beat him at anything! And that just makes me _furious_! Though, after a while I got over it since I finally learnt to accept that he would always be like that. From the age of eight until now, Gary and I haven't been on the best terms with each other, which I'm totally fine with by the way...

"I am soooo sorry, kids," apologized a middle age man with short grey hair and brown eyes, wearing a lab coat with a red shirt underneath and tan pants. "Let's get this show on the road. I'm pretty certain that you kids are eager to get your starters."

"...Yeah... Err, why is your lab messy," asked Judith, kicking a soda can away with disgust and trying not to shudder from all the filth.

"Sorry, I guess I've been caught up in research," he laughed nervously. Figures...

He then motioned for us to follow him and we complied at once. With Gary in the lead and me bringing up the rear, the professor led us to where a metal cart was sited at. I stood in the middle of Judith and Ethan and Gary was next to Ethan. Our gazes flickered to Prof. Oak, who was casting us all attentive glances with a clipboard in hand.

"As you kids may know; today is the day each of you will receive your starter. This first pokemon will be your partner and your friend. On this cart next to me are the Kanto starters: squritle the Tiny Turtle Pokémon, bulbasaur the Seed Pokémon, and charmander the Lizard Pokémon. Every one of these—" I lost him after that.

The reason was that my eyes immediately flickered eagerly to three minimized standard red/white poké balls that were on the surface of the cart.

"Evelyn, are you okay? You have been zoning out nonstop today," stated Judith. Her voice caused me to jump, making me look unwillingly at her.

"I'm fine, really," I assured her. She shrugged and turned her attention to Prof. Oak, who was busy talking about the necessities of take care of Pokémon. I sighed, shifting my weight to my other foot.

Fifteen looooong minutes later...

"Okay, Evelyn and Judith pick your starter," said Prof. Oak, gesturing to the cart. Judith immediately rushed forward with me trailing, picking up a random poké ball. She shook her head and then set down the one with the element fire and picked up the middle one with the element leaf. She smiled and tossed it in the air, barely catching it.

The shape of a small, blue-green dinosaur appeared by Judith's feet. It had a light-green, onion-like bulb on its back and four stubby, spotted legs. A jade green birthmark that resembled a heart was on its forehead. The bulbasaur's small ears twitched as its fuchsia-colored eyes looked around the room.

"OMA, you are sooooo cute! I'm going to call you Jade," squealed Judith. She scooped up the surprised bulbasaur in her arms and walked away, abandoning me.

I sighed, looking at the remained poké balls. So my choices were now squirtle and charmander. Hmm... which Pokémon would be an exceptional and strong partner for me to have? It was either the fiery salamander starter or the cool tiny turtle starter. Both starters would eventually evolve into powerhouses. But which one can actually learn fight type moves? I scowled, knowing this was going to be a tough decision for me to make.

After what seemed like a long time, Gary decided to interrupt my internal musing. "For the love of Mew, would ya just _pick_ already! We don't have all day. Come on, come on," sighed Gary dramatically, tapping at what looked like an imaginary watch on his right wrist. Then, he spoke under his breathe so only I could hear it. "And whatever you do... do not—I repeat— do not pick squirtle!"

Sudden angrier rushed to my face, and I wisely choose to not acknowledge him. Though, I was tempted to kick that bastard between his legs so hard that he will never ever be able to sire another arrogant jackass like himself. Shit, another spitting image of Douche Bag would doom the whole planet. One is enough thank you very much.

I focused thoughtfully on the remainder poké balls, letting my mind wander.

_Ha, serves him right! Why I outta take squirtle on purpose to get on his nerves! That will show him. But... I honestly don't see myself training neither of these Pokémon... They're just not fight types. Man, I wish Prof. Oak had a riolu; I really want one,_ I complained silently.

After some more thought, I finally made my choice. With a shake of my head, I walked away. This action made Douche seethe with outrage because it took me that long just to realize that neither starter appealed to me. Prof. Oak found this a little disappointing.

"What's wrong, Evelyn?" I told him that Ethan and Gary should pick next and that his starters didn't appeal to me. He ahh-ed' and motioned the boys over.

Gary darted to the table with my over-excited sibling on his heels, making sure to cast many irritated and mad glares in my direction. Gary took the left one that contained squirtle and Ethan took the last one with charmander inside. That actually didn't surprise me one bit. My brother had been blabbering for as long as I can remember that he wanted to start off with a charmander.

Both boys skillfully threw their respective poké balls in the air (in Douche bag's case, he decided to show off by spinning his poké ball on his index finger before catching it and launching it with a spin into the air. typical.) before catching them.

In front of Gary, a small, baby blue, scaly turtle stood. It had a brown shell and fluffy tail. It had a tan underbelly and black eyes. The squirtle took one look at Gary and instantaneously jumped into his surprised arms, rubbing his head affectionately against Oak's cheek. I scowled with disappointment since I had been hoping that the young squirtle would spit water in his face. That would teach him!

An orange bipedal salamander with some dinosaur qualities manifested by Ethan's feet. It had a creamy underside and a long tail with an exterior flame burning healthy on the tip. Charmander's green eyes glanced with confusion around the room.

I saw my twin sink to its level, whispering encouraging words. The lizard's eyes shined and rubbed its head against Ethan's leg. I smiled warmly at the scene. Well, leave it to my brother to immediately earn his starter's trust. He actually has a way with pokémon unlike me, though.

"Uh... Professor, isn't Evelyn gonna get a Pokémon," Judith questioned, feeling sorry for me.

I heaved a sigh, staring dejectedly at the floor with my shoulders slumped. Well, of course I wouldn't be getting a starter! There were only three damn poké balls on that cart after all... Not what am I gonna do?

"Professor, I could catch a Pokémon for my dear little sister. I mean, now that I have Fuego," Ethan said, waking over to put an arm around my shoulders.

I glared down at his hand and gave him a look that said "you have three seconds to get your arm off from me if you want to keep it." I know I was being ungrateful but the little sister comment annoyed me since he was only taller than me me by two inches and he was only older by four minutes!

I looked at Gary's grandfather in panic, who was thinking deeply. I didn't want Ethan to catch me a pokémon because I was afraid he would catch me a ratatta just to tick me off. Yes, my brother could be mean at times. The renowned professor walked over to me.

"Evelyn, you will be getting a Pokémon. I knew you wouldn't be interested in my starters so I... decided to let you take him. I must warn you that he a little... lively..." he trailed off.

My zealous expression vanished and I frowned. I didn't like the sound of "lively". Calling someone "lively" was a cuddly circumlocution for "feisty" or "spunky" or "stubborn". I didn't like the idea of having to deal with an aggressive and disobedient Pokemon at any time of day, let alone have one like that for my starter!

"What kind of pokemon is it and where did you catch it," I asked hesitantly.

He seemed to deliberate several times like if he had regretted telling me about this mystery Poké. Man, now I'm scared.

"Well...that's the thing; I don't know where he came from. I found his poké ball at Pallet beach a few weeks ago. My theory is that either he was disposed of like trash by a rather disappointed trainer or someone lost him. But I've tried to find the trainer and no one has claimed him yet. I think he would be better off with you. If you don't mind, that is..." He handed me a minimized shiny, ruby poke ball.

I felt sadness and angrier wash through me as I soaked in what he said. Poor little burger. What cruel trainer would just throw away their Pokémom like they were garbage? With a determine spark in my eyes, I enlarged the capsule only to be stun.

My eyes grew huge. Could it be?

"I-is t-that a c-cherish b-ball," Judith stammered. Gary's eyes turned huge and Ethan's mouth fell open with a pop from surprise. Those pokéballs were rarer than master balls. There's only a small amount in the Pokémon world. How the hell did one end up in Pallet beach—of all places to show up—why here?

"Yes. Let the poor creature out." I gulped. Everyone held their breath, as I press the button in the middle. The orb opened in my palm, letting a pretty rainbow beam hit the ground. Slowly, the mysterious Pokémon's outline began to form.

_What are you?_

**A/N: So how was it? Was it better than the first try? Are there any grammar mistakes? Did I portray Gary much better than my first try? As I said in the beginning of the chapter, no flames! They will be met with sarcasm and laughter.**


	2. Chapter 2: Disobedient pt 2

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own Pokémon. Nintendo does. Flames are prohibited! Constructive criticism is allowed, though.**

**Okay so thanks for the feedback. **

**Key:**

_Italics-Thoughts/Letters/Flashbacks_

**Bold- PA system/Message Bulletins**

_**Bold Italic- Radio/TV/Pokedex descriptions**_

* * *

><p>Follow your dream.<p>

Take one step at a time and don't settle for less,

Just continue to climb.

Follow your dream.

If you stumble, don't stop and lose sight of your goal

Press to the top.

For only on top can we see the whole view,

Can we see what we've done and what we can do;

Can we then have the vision to seek something new,

Press on.

Follow your dream.

Follow Your Dream—by Amanda Bradley

* * *

><p>Diverging Paths<p>

Chapter 2: Disobedient Part 2

* * *

><p>I stared with awe and astonishment in front of me. My eyes, already wide from surprise, popped wider. Everything else in the lab seemed to fade out as I focused solely on my new Pokèmon.<p>

A small child like Pokémon, with a white body and a pair of legs that made it look like it was wearing a dress, was looking around with slight panic and confusion. I felt Ralts projected a wave of confusion throughout the room, and it surged to my brain.

"W-o-w~!" Ethan swooned, exaggerating the word into three syllables. "A Ralts in Kanto— how rare!" Yes, Ethan, a teenage boy, swooned at the sight of a Pokémon. He's what many might call...a Pokémaniac. He _loves_ pokémon even more than me.

And how rare in deed since ralts were actually from somewhere in Hoenn. As in a region that is not even remotely close to Kanto. How did one end up here? And most importantly: why did someone catch it in a cherish ball?

I groaned quietly, feeling very confused at the moment.

"Ralts!" An angry cry that sounded like a demand snapped me back to reality. The ralts was glowing piercingly at me, which was very weird since I couldn't even see its eyes because of its green helmet-like head, with two side red horns, that was covering its entire face but its mouth. I took an automatic step back just to be safe.

Ralts seemed to be mad at me for some apparent reason. This puzzled me because as far as I knew I hadn't even done anything to it.

"Uh, Prof. Oak, why is it angry," I squeaked, subconsciously taking another step back.

"I honestly do not know," he replied from somewhere behind me. I glanced back to see him, Ethan, Gary, Judith, and their starters standing about three feet away. Judith was restraining my twin.

_Why the heck were they back there? Don't tell me that they're actually afraid of Ralts—a Pokémom that's the size of a five-month-old infant. Ugh, and now I'm afraid of it too. How lame and pathetic that is,_ I groaned silently.

In an attempt to prove my bravery and superiority over Gary, I walked forward until I was an arm's length away. With a nervous smile, I spoke in a slightly nervous, yet gentle voice before squatting to his level.

"H-hello there! Uh, I'm your new trainer. It's nice to meet you, Ralts..." I trailed off, feeling awkward.

There was dead, eerie silence. But then his glare intensified, and a low, warning growl emanated from his mouth. Ralts' growl began to get louder and more pronounced.

Springing to my feet quickly to give Ralts his personal space, I prepared to return him. I didn't take in account that this would enrage him more.

The small psychic manifested a decent size shadowy orb and without warning he launched it. It took me a fraction of a second to snap out of the paralyzed state I was in before making an effort to dodge.

"Gah," I gasped loudly, before taking a sudden lunge to my right, dropping the ruby poké ball. The Shadow Ball flew pass where my stomach use to be. I groaned, as I laid daze-like on my side.

_Oh, shit! Urgent message for Evelyn: sociopath ralts about to maul you. So you better... move unless you wanna die,_ screamed my mind.

I stumbled to my feet in time to see Ralts manifesting multiple bluish fire-like orbs from his palms. The attack was aimed at me. With my heart beating rapidly and my palms sweating, I realized that dodging would be a futile attempt since I had nowhere to escape because of the stupid bookshelf to my left and the stupid machine to my right. Plus, Ralts was blocking my only escape route. In my peripheral vision, I saw a couple things while trying to fight off my dizzy spell.

First, I heard my brother's fretful voice that sounded far away. "Evelyn!"

"Kadabra, use Protect!"

Second, Gary's grandfather produced a standard white/red poké ball out of thin air, throwing it to the ground. The capsule snapped open, and a bright silver light illuminated the room. From that brilliant light, appeared a brown and yellow-hued fox-like pokémon with a red star on its forehead and sharp claws. It suddenly disappeared before reappearing in front of me.

A transparent light green shield popped up in front of the professor's pokémon from a flick of its silver spoon before Ralts' attack could hurt me. I continued to watch as the assault ricocheted off, flying in multiple directions. The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me was Kadabra quickly knocking my new Ralts unconscious and everyone running to my side in panic.

X-X-X

"Is she going to be alright?" I heard someone ask. Curious, I concentrated hard on the voices.

"Don't worry. She's going to be fine," Prof. Oak assured.

"When is she going to wake up?" Ethan demanded.

"Gary, you can stop pacing now. When are you going to admit that you're worried about her," Judith questioned. Gary worried about me? Ha, that's a first. I'd like to see that myself. That self-centered prick doesn't care about anyone but himself, excluding Prof. Oak and his sister Daisy.

"Shut up, Judith," Gary growled. "I'm...just pacing because... I have to go to the restroom." Pssh, what a lame ass excuse! Let him use that tone on my bestie one more time with me around. I swear to Arceus that I will rip out his throat like a vicious, hungry Mightyena.

I heard Judith mutter, "Sure, Gary, sure. Tell that to someone who _actually_ believes you."

"She should wake up in a few min..." he trailed off as my eye lids fluttered open.

I blinked, letting my eyes get adjusted to the sudden brightness. Sitting up slowly, I looked around my surroundings to find four pairs of worried eyes staring down at me.

"Evelyn!" three voices cried together.

Judith then launched herself at me, crushing me tightly against her. I started to whizz, trying to pull away in vain from her Machoke-grip.

"_Evelyn Lotta Hughes_! How dare you endanger your life like that," she roared, crushing me even tighter against her.

Okay, by this point I'm disregarding her words and am trying to break away. Seeing this, my dear brother decided to rescue me from my best friend's to-die-for hug (ignore that pun).

"As much as I hate to interrupt your heartwarming scene, Judith... you are suffocating my sister!" he said.

Judith looked down at my now blue face in alarm, dropping me at once with an "eek". She laughed nervously, mareepishly apologizing as I laid painfully on the ground.

"Hey, you oaky," an anxious Ethan asked after lending me a hand. His worried brown eyes lingered on my face.

I nodded, wobbling slightly on my feet. I never did enjoy people practically worrying over me. All of them, even Gary, frowned with disapproval.

"Are you sure you're okay? Perhaps you could come back tomorrow... I would understand since you had a terrifying experience and all..." Prof. Oak trailed off once again when he saw my annoyed look.

Hell no! I was not about to wait until tomorrow to start my journey! I will be starting today like planed and that's final! Besides that, I didn't want to show how awful and weak I felt right now. This would also give King Douche bag the perfect opportunity to make fun of me.

"Guys, honestly, I'm fine. Can we just continue like nothing happened," I pleaded.

The professor slowly nodded with uncertainly before handing me back Ralts' cherish ball. With a shaky hand, I took it back and shuddered. The ruby capsule now felt cold and wrong in my palm; the warmth was long gone. Recalling back the former event, I sucked in a sharp breath as my heart pounded loudly and rapidly in my chest.

_Get a hold of yourself, Evelyn. He's just a pokemon that's misunderstood. He didn't mean to do that to you. Give him a second chance and snap out of it, NOW!_

I sighed. My conscience was unfortunately right; I shouldn't be afraid of Ralts. But I can't help it! I mean he did try to kill/burn me with his Will-O-Whisp. I wonder if pokémon can be charged with attempted murder...

I slowly opened my eyes, meeting the worried ones of prof. Oak. Trying to shake off my irrational fear, I struggled to plant a reassuring smile on my face, and without a doubt that it looked more like a grimace.

"It's alright if you don't want him. I don't blame you," he said quietly.

My eyes widened in slight panic.

"N-no! I-I'll take him. It's not his fault; he's just... a little...disobedient and distant. Ralts deserves a second chance, which I'm willing to give him. All he needs is patience and devotion." Oh boy, _a lot_ of patience.

"Ah, I see. I knew I made the right choice on letting you keep him. You spoke like a true trainer."

Gary scoffed and we all chose to pointedly ignore him. Minimizing and enlarging the ruby ball in my palm, I thought about names that would suit Ralts. Blade... no, too cliché-y. There are millions of male ralts nicknamed that. I just wanted a nickname that would suit him. According to a short article that I read in a magazine, a while back, giving a pokémon a nice and unique nickname was how one would get close to their pokémon. Perhaps, it would help tell Ralts that I wasn't a bad person.

But what name would be the ideal one for him? For some apparent reason, I kept thinking about the quote by Oscar Wilde that read: A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. In more simple words, it means that if you allow yourself to dream. If you break all your barriers and allow yourself to move beyond them, you will be a stargazer. And, not only will you see things; you will also see them before others see them, for that will give you a tremendous advantage over others.

Maybe beneath that tough guy exterior of his, Ralts was actually a visionary. I mean, he looked like he saw certain things that humans and Pokémon have never seen. That's why he will be forever known as... Dreamer.

"Dreamer. His name will be Dreamer," I replied quietly, looking at the poké ball.

The professor managed to hear me. "A unique name in deed, dear. Come along this way, kids. Now that you have your starters, you must do something in return for me. You see, recently I managed to acquire four advanced pokédexs from a friend of mine, who helped me assemble them. These pokédexs cannot be acquired here."

Prof. Oak pulled out four, slim rectangular devices that resembled a high-tech phone. We all gawked at the devices. Pokédexs are super expensive, especially the latest versions. I'd seen them a couple times on TV. And according to Prof. Oak, these weren't even from Kanto! Hot damn.

It was a shame that I was completely clueless about how they work. Can you believe it that my parents never taught me how to use one? Well, they did, much to Ethan and my chagrin. My parents are one of those old fashion scientists that prefer to acquire their knowledge from books and not technology, given that it's a better way— according to them— to be sure that the knowledge you are receiving is not false. That was the main reason why father made sure to buy Ethan and me tons and tons of helpful books on everything that had to do with Pokémon when we were little.

"What's a Pokédex," Judith asked.

I looked at him with a "yeah, what is it" look. Well, of course, Gary didn't say anything rude but if it was me he would have called me stupid.

"A Pokédex is a detailed, useful encyclopedia that records the data of a Pokémon: weight, height, its habitat, etc. There are currently 649 Pokémon in this world and many more are being discovered every day. This tool will be very handy on your quest. Please, use it wisely. Take these poké balls as well." the professor informed, handing us each our device and five standard poké balls.

I tried to absorb all the information in my brain, hoping that somehow I don't forget it. I put the extra poke balls in my bag and gleefully accepted my pokédex. It was grey with a screen on the half top and with a magenta poké ball that covered the bottom half completely. Pressing the turn on button, I gawked as the screen slide forward to reveal a second screen underneath and it made a beeping sound, indicating that it was turning on.

"Now scan the Pokémon in this room," he said as Judith and I gave him a confused look. "Just point the dex at the Pokémon you wish to gain info on and there should be a caption on the touch screen that's asking scan Pokémon. You are going to press the 'yes' button and presto! Tons of information will pop up on that certain Pokémon. Let me warn you that you may only know the pokémon's moves if it's yours."

Once the Professor was done explaining the functions of the pokédex, I pointed the pokédex on Jade, Squirtle, and then Fuego. It spoke in a monotone voice.

_**"Bulbasaur, the seed pokemon and the pre-evolved form of ivysuar. For some time after its birth, it grows by gaining nourishment from the seed on its back."**_

_**"Squirtle, the tiny turtle pokemon and the pre-evolved form of wartortle. It shelters itself in its shell, then strikes back with spouts of water at every opportunity."**_

_**"Charmander, the lizard pokemon and pre-evolved form of charmeleon. The fire on the tip of its tail is a measure of its life. If healthy, its tail burns intensely."**_

I smiled excitedly, watching each pokémon's picture appear on screen from different angles. Grabbing Dreamer's ball, I set it on the counter, scanning it.

_**"Ralts the feeling pokemon and the pre-evolved form of kirlia. It uses the horns on its head to sense human emotions. It is said to appear in front of cheerful people only because of its timid nature. Ralts' nature is adamant and hates to lose battles. Moves are Shadow Ball, Growl, and Will-O-Wisp."**_

As I heard the entry, my gleeful look turned into a troublesome one. That entry was starting to bother me since according to the pokédex Ralts were timid. Dreamer was the complete opposite of timid. Hell, the dex said he was adamant as in stubborn. I honestly didn't know why that surprised me since the professor did mention that Dreamer was lively. I shook away those thoughts.

"Gramps, if that's all, then can I hit the road? I want to get to Viridian by the afternoon." Gary tapped his foot impatiently on the floor.

"Yes," Prof. Oak sighed, "You all have my number in cast you have any questions. Now, good luck on your journey!" He waved us off.

X-X-X

As all four of us walked outside the front door, Gary turned around to face us, an eager look on his usual vain face.

"So, which one of you losers wants to battle," he asked.

I immediately declined the offer, knowing that I would not be using Dreamer in any upcoming battles any time soon. Gary ignored me and glanced at just Judith and my excited and offended brother. Judith turned down his offer rudely while Ethan agreed.

With a smirk Gary led us to a more secluded area that was in the back of the lab, away from his fan girls that were still standing there like lovesick growlithe (yuck!).

Judith and I walked to a nearby tree and plopped ourselves underneath the shade, waiting for the two boys to start their battle.

As soon as both Starters ran onto the makeshift battle arena, Ethan and Gary wasted no time in barking out an order.

"Fuego, start things off with Scratch!"

"Squirtle, use tackle!"

The orange salamander and tiny turtle ran across the field toward each other. Before Fuego could rake his left claw across his opponent's cheek, Squirtle used his shell to his advantage by withdrawing, dodging Fuego's failed attempt to inflict damage. The amphibian soon retaliated by shooting out of his shell, hitting the surprised salamander with a close range head butt against the chin. Said head butt, sent Fuego tumbling into the ground with a painful and astonished wail.

I winced while Gary shook his head in mock disappointment.

Ethan gritted his teeth, hollering out an encouragement. "Come on, Fuego! You've got this in the bag! Get up and show em' how we roll!"

I watched the bruised charmander rise slowly to his feet after hearing Ethan's pep talk, determination sparkling in his eyes. After that, the boys shouted another command, which both young starters wasted no time in following. This battle last for only a few minutes with the same moves being exchanged by both starters until Gary and Ethan decided to end it with one final move.

"Squirtle, Aqua Jet!"

"Fuego stay still," Ethan commanded. His order caused Judith and me to look at him in alarm. Did he actually want to lose?

Covered in scrapes and scratches, Squirtle's body briefly became surrounded in blue energy. When the blue glow faded, a wave of spiraling water appeared from the bottom of his body and completely covered him. Squirtle then propelled himself at Fuego like a rocket.

A slightly injured charmander hesitantly stood his ground, trembling as the Squirtle was shooting towards him like a missile. My gazed flickered to my brother and I was surprised to see a confident smirk plastered on his face.

_Now what does Ethan have planned,_ I mused silently. I didn't have to ponder what his plan was for long because he put it into action.

"Duck! Then use Metal Claw rapidly and repeatedly!"

The young charmander wasted no time in happily ducking just as the Aqua Jet swooshed pass where his head was a second ago. Due to Squirtle's failure to hit Fuego, he stopped his attack and turned around. Unfortunately, Fuego used this as a perfect time to barrel after Squritle, the tip of his claws taking a steel-like quality.

Fuego was upon him in an instant, slashing away at the blue turtle's chest. After a few more hits, Gary's starter collapsed with a pained cry.

I blinked multiple times, mouth jarred open. My brother just beat G-Gary...

"Victory," Ethan shouted with a fist thrust into the air.

"Char-char!" Fuego mimicked, bouncing up and down in an excited manor.

My still awed gaze flickered towards a nonchalant Gary who was murmuring a few praising words to his fallen Squirtle. He returned him and then walked towards my brother.

"Meh. Okay battle I guess," he said with a shrug. "Here's some prize money. Smell you later."

After handing over the money, the brunette walked back to the lab to heal his pokémon after sparring me a weird glance. I glared after him while Ethan was still celebrating.

X-X-X

After healing Ethan's starter, I found myself standing with Judith and my brother outside the gates of the lab, amongst the annoying crowd of Gary's fan girls and some Pallet residents.

Gary was in the thickest of the crowd, showing off his starter. No doubt about it... Stupid show off!

"Okay... Evelyn and Judith, why don't we head off already then," suggested Ethan, adjusting his backpack over his right shoulder.

I gave a nod of agreement and began to follow Ethan towards route one. But I then noticed that we were one traveling buddy short. Turning around, I saw Judith smiling apologetically at us.

"Aren't you coming," I asked with a frown.

She sighed, "Sorry, guys but I've decided that I actually want to travel alone for the time being. I hope you understand that."

My eyes widened in shock. "B-but I th-thought we would be traveling together," I whined, my bottom lip quivering.

Ethan spoke up in an understanding tone. "That's fine, Judith. We understand. Don't we, _Evelyn_?" He emphasized my name mean fully.

With a sad sigh, I pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm _really_ going miss you," I whispered into her ear.

The platinum blonde bobbed her head in agreement, hugging me tighter. Once good-byes where out of the way, Ethan pulled me away from Judith, waking excitedly down the path to route one while I followed sluggishly.

X-X-X

"Ethan? Ethaaaaan! Where the hell are you," I demanded, stepping over a log as I looked around the forest for any signs of my idiotic twin brother.

I sighed in frustration. We hadn't even been in the forest for ten minutes before Ethan decided to run off after a random pokémon in hopes of catching it. And he thought it would be funny to just abandon me here! The moron had yet to reappear.

I stopped waking after seeing the same oak tree for the fifth time. Oh, brother! It's seems that Ethan got us lost. Great, just freaking great! I'm somewhere in Pallet forest lost without no protection at all. Dreamer sure as hell didn't count as safety... When I get my hands on that no good pokèmaniac, I swear he's going to wish he was never born!

But what if some rabid, carnivorous pokémon is on the loose? What if a rapist is wandering throughout this exact forest, prowling around for an innocent lost girl as his next victim? What if I accidentally fall into a pit and break my leg? Never to be seen by anyone again until I become nothing but bones... As I continued to over exaggerate, I almost didn't hear a familiar scream. Almost, though.

That scream was followed by a loud crack. Without thinking, I ran in the direction where I heard it. Leaping over a random tree bush, I came across Ethan sprawl across a trail path with a leg sticking out in the air, twitching slightly. A broken tree branch was draped across his back, and he uttered a painful groan.

"Charmander," a mareepish Fuego apologized, who was standing to the side.

"...I'm not even going to ask." I shook my head as Ethan raised his head slowly and casted me a weak glare.

A few minutes later, Ethan explained to me that he had been running after a strong-looking pidgeotto and had decided to climb a tree after it. But Fuego had unfortunately chosen to lend a hand (paw) without him asking; and Ethan was scared the charmander would probably set the tree on fire with him in it. This had caused him to panic, resulting in the tree branch bucking under his weight and the pidgeotto flying away.

"Are you fully aware that Fuego cannot exhale flames yet due to his age," I asked with a slight chuckle, raising an eyebrow at him. Ethan acted like I hadn't even spoken before wordlessly pulling me through the forest en route to Viridian City, Fuego following closely.

I grumbled but roughly took my hand back, remembering how angry I was at him for not only getting us lost but for also having me looking around for him like an idiot.

"Newsflash: we are lost," I shouted angrily, "because _someone_ decided that it would be okay to just take off without alerting me! Thanks a whole bunch, you jerk!"

"Evie, you're exaggerating! Just calm down, alright? I'll find us the right path to Viridian," Ethan said, trying to reassure me. At least he didn't try to deny it. Maaaan, I had the sudden urge to tackle him to the ground just to vent out my angrier.

"Don't tell me to calm down! How the hell am I supposed to stay calm knowing that you're in charge of navigation, huh? You're not the smartest person when it comes to directions, Ethan," I snapped.

He glared icily at me. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, please! Don't act like you don't know! Must I remind you about the time when you managed to somehow get lost in professor Oak's backyard? And what about that time when you got lost in our attic, hm? And that time when—" He cut me off.

"That was a long time ago, Evelyn! When we were...six? Yeah, six! And in my defense, that place was huge!" Ethan's face flushed red. "Besides, I'll have you know that my navigation skills have improved drastically since then. Thank you very much," he retorted, leaving me still heated from our argument.

I huffed, stalking over to a patch of comfy-looking grass before plopping my bottom there, watch my twin attempting to read a town map of Kanto given to us by Judith's mother. Improved navigation skills, my left foot!

As I continued to watch him struggle to find the right path, Fuego came up to me, sending a curious glance at me. I smiled at the cute charmander, giving his scaly head a gentle pat. With a bored sigh, I allowed myself to fall back against the grass, staring up at the sun that was pushing through the treetops, basking the forest floor in dim, warm rays of light.

I felt Fuego poke my bare leg with a claw before I closed my eyes, ignoring the curious charmander and an annoying Ethan still messing with the map. Blocking out my surroundings, I let my mind wander back to Dreamer.

I was still bothered by his species' entry. How is it that I got stuck with a Ralts that is the extreme opposite of timid? Weren't his kind supposed to be very cheerful yet timid creatures? Why was Dreamer so...? What's the word? Hmmm... Lively? Spirited?

Both words seemed to fit, but he was also something else... Ah ha! He seemed to be quite bitter, resentful, and suspicious of everyone around him, including pokémon. Also, his red eyes (I'd managed to get a good view of them when he'd had me cornered back at the lab, despite of his green helmet being in the way.) held a certain, disturbing look.

_Maybe that's because of what the professor said, Evelyn! He did mention that your starter was probably abandoned by his trainer for many reasons. Don't you think he has every right to greatly distrust humans? He might have also been beaten for being weak, y'know,_ snapped a small voice in my head.

Of course, leave it to my conscience to talk some sense into me... Although, it was true that Dreamer had a justifiable reason for acting like that back at the lab. But it simple infuriated me that the young, troubled ralts thought I was a bad human. I wasn't, though!

It's so unfair that Dreamer had right away decided to judge me before seeing that I was completely harmless! The cliché phrase: You can't judge a book by its cover popped into my head.

The sudden noise of a poké ball opening lured me back to the forest as I open my eyes before sitting up abruptly. My assumption proved to be correct after seeing a familiar ruby poké ball that was sitting right by my right foot, a rainbow beam hitting the ground next to an awe-struck Fuego.

It took me a fraction of a second to realize that my brother's prying starter had somehow gotten his claws on Dreamer's poké ball and had somehow released the Ralts. Speak of the devil...

The feeling pokémon appeared, looking around the miniature clearing. I held perfectly still, my heart beat accelerating fast as Dreamer locked eyes with me.

_Damn, damn, damn! Why the hell does he have to be released by accident right now? Damnit,_ I swore silently.

"Charmander! Char," the overly friendly charmander greeted.

Fuego walked up to Dreamer, waving his paw cutely. I cursed under my breath, wondering why the young charmander wasn't as scared as I was right now. Didn't Fuego witness Dreamer's attempt to kill me an hour ago?

Dreamer didn't seem to like Fuego invading his personal space. A warning growl came from his mouth, telling the starter to stop. Said warning caused Fuego to stop in his tracks, titling his head in confusion to the side.

This caught Ethan's attention, and he watched as his naïve starter approached Dreamer once again.

Dreamer's growl grew louder and without warning he launched himself at a surprised Fuego. Both pokémon began to tussle with Dreamer trying to inflict damage while a frighten Fuego struggled to keep him at bay and trying to escape in the process.

As frighten as I was, I didn't want to hear Fuego's terrified cries and Dreamer's snarls anymore.

"H-hey! L-leave him alone," I screamed. Unfortunately, I was completely ignored. Deciding to stop it myself, I threw myself at the quarreling pair in an attempt to separate them.

I managed to grab Dreamer from behind, forcibly tearing him away from a now trembling, slightly battered Fuego. He didn't like me touching him so he thrashed against my hold, kicking and punching me.

I gasped in pain, and dropped him without thinking. The fuming Ralts landed on his feet, spinning around to glare hot, red daggers at me. He charged at me, and I screamed. I stumbled back clumsily to escape his wrath but ended up tripping at the most inopportune time.

Before he could launch himself at me, a streak of orange collided with him, sending him flying a couple feet away. And without any order from Ethan, Fuego sprinted forward and smacked Dreamer in the face, with his tail, just as the feeling pokémon was trying to regain his footing. The charmander's sudden assault sent my starter flying once again into a tree before he laid perfectly still after falling.

After that, I just completely shut down. With my arms tightly wrapped around my knees, I buried my head, shaking severely. I heard Ethan return my fallen starter before walking quickly to my side, falling to his knees beside me and gathering me up against his chest. I allowed him and buried my head into his neck, letting a few tears out.

He tightened his hold on me, mumbling a few encouraging and soothing words. We stayed like this for quite a while until I remembered Fuego, who was trembling along side of me. I looked at his shivering form and my heart swelled from regret, which caused me to pull away from Ethan.

Gathering him up into my arms, I murmured soothing words as the young salamander snuggled further into my chest.

"It's not your fault, you know," Ethan said quietly as he watched me. I had a feeling that he had known about the guilty thoughts running through my head.

My sad cobalt eyes met his serious brown ones for a second before he looked away, his shoulders becoming stiff. I frowned and prepared to comment but he beat me.

"Err... I think I found the correct path to Viridian... Let's go, alright?" He hoisted his backpack over his shoulders before walking through the bush I came from, without a glance back.

With a sigh, I followed, carrying a now sleeping Fuego. Boy, did today turn out completely different from what I'd expected. Oh Acreus, please help me!


	3. Chapter 3: The Joy Of Persistence

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own Pokémon. Nintendo does. Flames are prohibited! Constructive criticism is allowed, though.**

**Omg, sorry for not updating in a long time! I had a really bad case of writer's block! But I'm back, baby! Thanks so much for the reviews, guys! I really appreciate it. **

Key:

_Italics-Thoughts/Letters/Flashbacks_

**Bold- PA system/Message Bulletins**

**_Bold Italic- Radio/TV/Pokedex descriptions_**

* * *

><p>Because it rains when we wish it wouldn't,<p>

Because men do what they often shouldn't,

Because crops fail, and plans go wrong

Some of us grumble all day long.

But somehow, in spite of the care and doubt,

It seems at last that things work out.

Because we lose where we hoped to gain,

Because we suffer a little pain,

Because we must work when we'd like to play

Some of us whimper along life's way.

But somehow, as day always follows the night,

Most of our troubles work out all right.

Because we cannot forever smile,

Because we must trudge in the dust awhile,

Because we think that the way is long

Some of us whimper that life's all wrong.

But somehow we live and our sky grows bright,

And everything seems to work out all right.

So bend to your trouble and meet your care,

For the clouds must break, and the sky grow fair.

Let the rain come down, as it must and will,

But keep on working and hoping still.

For in spite of the grumblers who stand about,

Somehow, it seems, all things work out.

— Things Work Out by Edgar A. Guest

* * *

><p>Diverging Paths<p>

Chapter 3: The Joy Of Persistence

* * *

><p><em>Somehow<em>, Ethan managed to get us on the correct path to Viridian City. Perhaps his navigational skills have improved. Well, kudos to him I guess...

The rest of the walk to Viridian was silent and without any further interruptions. But if you ask me, it was too damn quiet! And to top that off, Ethan was giving me the silent treatment.

By the time we exited route one, the sun was slowly beginning to descend, signaling the start of twilight. Ethan and I quickened our pace, eager to arrive to Viridian's Pokémon Center before dark.

I decided to lead the way by breaking into a jog as soon as we saw the welcome sign, easily navigating through the slightly busy streets of the city. Fifteen minutes later, we stood in front of a large dome-shaped building, with a bold, red P painted on the roof.

Without any hesitation, we briskly walked inside to get a well needed rest, which I was immensely grateful for. I was extremely hungry and very tired and sore from that very long walk. While Ethan went to the front counter to do Arceus knows what, I immediately rushed towards a sleek, comfy black couch, collapsing onto it with my head resting on the couch's armrest. I laid in complete bliss for quite a while, with my eyes closed, until Ethan's voice interrupted my blissful state.

"Evelyn, get up! Come on, lazy bones. Don't you want to eat," he asked, towering over me. I took notice that the distant attitude he had been portraying was long gone.

I groaned in annoyance, refusing to move just yet. "Go away! Can't you see that I'm trying to rest my aching legs and feet; they hurt," I complained, cracking an eye open to sent him a murderous glare.

He rolled his eyes before retorting. "Same here, but you don't see me complaining and whining."

Grumbling things about how people can't rest without being rudely disturbed and what not, I heaved my tired body off the couch and stumbled after my twin, who was walking towards the doubled doors that obviously lead to the cafeteria.

One excruciating long wait later in line, Ethan and I sat at a table, in the middle of the noisy room, happily digging into our own meals. Mine consisted of a plate of steaming hot lasagna with a salad to the side and a cup of Oran soda pop. An energized Fuego sat by Ethan's feet, gobbling down a bowl of pokéchow made only for fire types with zeal.

At one point during the meal, Ethan suggested that I should release Dreamer from his poké ball so that he could eat too. I was shocked by his suggestion that I choked on some salad. Didn't he learn already that Dreamer greatly disliked humans and Pokémon alike?

I know damn well that letting loose that little hellion would be a severely bad idea, especially with all these people and Pokémon around. Who knows what kind of chaos and mayhem my ralts could cause? He'd probably try to assault all these people with his Shadow Ball and Will-O-Whisp. He could starve for all I care! Uh... perhaps that was a bit harsh, huh?

After managing to swallow down the piece of salad I'd been choking on, I gave him an incredulous look. "Yeah, and while we're add it, why don't we just let Dreamer _loose_ upon the whole entire city, hm," I said, sarcasm dripping from my mouth.

He rolled his eyes at my dramatic proposal, continuing to eat as if he hadn't said a thing. I sighed and tried to follow his example, but I was no longer that hungry.

X-X-X

"Nooooo, I don't wanna! Ethaaaan, stoooop," I wailed loudly, trying to pry my right wrist from his ironclad grip.

"Come on, Evelyn! You're making a scene!"— Me making a scene? Pssh, like he wasn't contributing! — "Stop acting like a total drama queen," he shouted, giving my wrist another painful tug. But he was right since our little exchange was indeed attracting the curious stares of passing bystanders.

I shot them all a withering glare. "Take a _picture,_ it'll last longer!"

Another hard yank from Ethan caused me to turn my attention back to him.

"Ouch, quit it!" I yelped, feeling my left hand loosing its grip on the pole I was currently clinging to like a frighten meowth, in front of a diner, five blocks away from the Pokémon Center. I tried desperately to tighten my hold while trying to reclaim my throbbing wrist.

With one final rough tug, Ethan managed to extract my left hand from the pole. His stupid uncalled for action sent both of us tumbling to the concrete ground with a painful thud, causing me to release a surprised yell. I groaned with pain as we laid there, with Ethan somewhat cushioning my landing.

"Ow, my back... and my poor, poor stomach," Ethan whimpered after pushing me off his stomach. The bronze-haired boy shot me an irritated scowl.

I ignored him, rubbing my bottom in an attempt to stop the painful throbbing. I'm pretty sure you guys are curious to what led up to all of this, huh? Well, let's just say that Ethan had _tired_ (the keyword being tired) to get me to bond with Dreamer. I wasn't too keen about it so I had attached myself to a pole in hopes of escaping Ethan's hold.

Too bad it was a loss cause.

He slowly rose to his feet, rubbing his back while staring icily down at me. My response to his look was folding my arms in an act of defiance, turning my head to stare in a different direction. He uttered a groan of exasperation, lifting his hands up that signaled giving up.

I smiled triumphantly before springing to my feet. Too bad that I never got a chance to runaway, for I suddenly found myself being dragged away by my stupid idiot of a brother.

"Let go, _now_ before I hurt you," I growled threateningly, struggling in vain against his firm hold. He ignored me, and continued to drag me along.

"Hey I'm— Help! Kidnap in progress! Assault! Attempted murder! For Arceus' sake, help me; I need an adult," I yelled, dragging my feet and trying to pull away. Passing spectators just walked away without even a backward glance, completely disregarding that I could actually be _in need_ of help— the nerve of people of these days, not helping a poor, defenseless teenage girl! Well, fuck them all then! I don't need their stupid help.

Without thinking things through, I suddenly kicked Ethan in the shin. This caused him to immediately release my wrist, letting out a cry of affliction. He then doubled over; clutching his shin and hopping around like an imbecile.

Now, this actually caught the attention of those heartless and rude people. I just ignored them all and l booked it out of there faster than turkeys on Thanksgiving, leaving Ethan behind.

"You'll never catch me alive, sucka! Better luck next time," I yelled over my shoulder just as I ran around the corner.

X-X-X

"... And that's _why_ my wrist hurts like a bitch," I concluded as I was getting my right wrist gently probed by Nurse Joy in the back of the Pokémon Center.

Said nurse gave me a look of disapproval. "_Language_! I still don't understand why you felt the need to resolve that little spat with violence. You know very well, Evelyn, that violence is never the answer," she scolded me.

I chose not to answer her, settling with rolling my eyes at her instead while she wasn't looking. As she continued to examine my wrist with care, I couldn't help but wonder where Ethan was right now. Pssh, knowing that moron he was probably training, battling, or looking for a new poképal. But who cares! As long as said moron stays far away from me, I will not have to resort to hurting him. Not that I had any problem with doing that... Man, I am a horrible twin sister, huh? Oh, well!

I was pulled out of my brief ponder, by a sudden pain that coursed from my wrist to my shoulder from Joy applying too much pressure.

"Ouch! H-hey, that hurts like a bi..." I trailed off with a wince as Joy sent me a warning look. "Heh heh... Sorry..."

She didn't take her eyes off me as she snapped her rubber gloves off. "Your wrist seems to be fine. It may be a little sore and tender for a couple of days, but overall it should be fine," she informed me.

I sighed in relief, hopping down from the examination table while pulling on my hoodie and adjusting my bag over my left shoulder.

Nurse Joy was about to say more when a loud cry caused us to jump. "HEY! Watch it, you! Did you just _push_ her?"

"Yes. What is it to you, huh?" a loud hostile voice replied.

She quickly walked to the lobby to see what all the commotion was all about, with me following closely out of sheer curiosity.

We briskly walked into the lobby to see two teenage girls locked in a staring contest. A small, mammalian creature with brown fur, a bushy, cream-colored tipped tail, and a cream-colored, furry collar stood crouched before its trainer, teeth bared. Several nosy trainers were staring eagerly at them while others were placing bets. I shifted uncomfortably as the atmosphere in the lobby intensified drastically.

"So are you going to apologize," a girl with wavy black, waist length hair demanded. Her attire consisted of light blue shorts that fell just above her knees and a puffy short sleeved, black and white gothic lolita blouse. She crossed her hands, tapping her black and white sneakers expectantly.

A pale skin girl with chocolate brown, shoulder length hair scoffed in response. "Pssh, why should I? She was in my way," she sneered, gesturing to the timid girl who was looking at the floor. Timid girl nervously put a loose strand of raven hair behind her ear as she pushed her black rimmed glasses back in place.

The black-haired girl's toned heart-shaped face hardened, her startling blue eyes narrowed to slits. The chocolate brown-haired girl prepared to walk away but was immediately stopped the livid black-haired girl.

"HEY! I'm not done talking to you! Apologize or else," she shouted.

She turned around, shooting the enraged girl an amused smirk, probably pleased to have gotten such a reaction out of her. "Or else what? Oh please, don't leaving me and all these nosy people curious."

She growled and took a step forward, but was stopped by timid girl and the growling of her enemy's eevee.

"R-ronnie, no! It's... It's fine. Please, j-just let it b-be," stuttered the raven-haired girl, navy blue eyes pleading her to drop it.

The girl, now known as Ronnie, turned her head to stare in disbelief at her. "No, Elizabeth! She will apologize to you because it's what's fair! Plus, you did nothing to her," Ronnie cried in frustration, stomping her foot firmly.

"Chansey chanse!" A pink egg-shaped Pokémon waddled up to Ronnie, its hair-like tress bouncing and it's short tail moving side to side with each step it took. It then became aware of the intense atmosphere but it still proceeded forward with a less energetic step.

I quickly took out my pokédex, scanning the Chansey and Eevee. After beeping to life, a male monotone spoke up.

"_**Chansey, the Egg Pokémon and the evolve form of Happiny. It is said to be compassionate, delivering happiness by sharing its highly nutritious eggs with injured people or Pokémon. It walks carefully to prevent its egg from breaking. However, it is extremely fast at running away. Being few in number and difficult to capture, it is said to bring happiness to the Trainer who catches it."**_

"_**Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon. It is able to evolve into seven different forms, depending on its environment or surroundings. Because its genetic makeup is irregular, it quickly changes its form due to a variety of causes.'**_

I watched the Chansey shakily hold up a tray, with four gleaming poké balls, to Ronnie before quickly retreating away. She mumbled a "thank you", taking back her healed Pokémon. This seemed to enrage the chocolate brown-haired girl, her blazing blue eyes taking an icy gleam.

As soon as Ronnie looked up, the girl took a step towards her. This seemed to make Elizabeth vey nervous and the nosy trainers excited. But this didn't seem to faze Ronnie at all since she matched her glare with an equally dark look.

Before things could get out of hand, Joy pushed her way through the crowd to where the girls were.

"Alright! That's enough! There will be no fighting in my center! Take this outside and far away from my center before I call Officer Jenny. And that goes double for all of you," she threatened, hands on her hips.

Ronnie and Elizabeth shrunk a little under Joy's venomous gaze, including cold, antisocial girl (as I'm now going to refer to her until I learn her name) while the crowd dispersed hastily. No doubt they were all trying to avoid making Joy angry (an angry Nurse Joy _is not_ pretty. I should know...).

"Fine, I was just leaving," she spoke coldly. "Come on, Grace!" The eevee wasted no time in following after her master.

"Ugh, the nerve of that girl! She didn't even apologize to you," Ronnie shouted in frustration.

Elizabeth made no comment, choosing to adjust her long, bulky golden scarf over her mouth instead before walking away.

"Hey, wait up," cried Ronnie, running after her.

As I watched them leave, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by outcome. Call me nosy all you want, but I was really hoping for _that_ cat fight. Too bad Joy had to ruin it. My money had been on that Ronnie girl... Oh, well!

I then scurried off to find a hiding spot before Ethan's return. Maybe the shower would do, or perhaps under the bed...

* * *

><p>Ronnie belongs to Chi-Chiwawa<p>

Elizabeth belongs to FlyingPandaBear

Celia (name is not mention in chapter) belongs to Shriekmon


End file.
